Friday, September 7, 2007

Pentagon Computer Hacked Into By Chinese

The Chinese military hacked into a Pentagon computer network in Junein the most successful cyber attack on the US defense department, sayAmerican ­officials.

The Pentagon acknowledged shutting down part of a computer systemserving the office of Robert Gates, defense secretary, but declined tosay who it believed was behind the attack.

Current and former officials have told the Financial Times an internalinvestigation has revealed that the incursion came from the People’sLiberation Army.

One senior US official said the Pentagon had pinpointed the exactorigins of the attack. Another person familiar with the event saidthere was a “very high level of confidence...trending towards totalcertainty” that the PLA was responsible. The defense ministry inBeijing declined to comment on Monday.